Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.
Hosted by Denise
Governed by the ‘Rule of Six’ (which says, ‘not five, not eight, not even seven sentences will do…’) in terms of the construct of one’s story.
This week we rejoin Ian Devereaux in ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’
The prompt word:
SERVICE
“I’m simply saying, the search from this point on is more efficiently conducted through institutions… no, not merely police departments… wait, hear me out, you, Leanne, of all people, know that when a culture gives birth to a viewpoint not exclusively grounded in the foundational principles of that belief… yeah, I did lift some of that from Gödel…what’s so funny? …I’ll have you know that most in my profession utilize set theory… maybe there isn’t an ongoing debate about ontology down at the Bottom of the Sea Strip Club and Lounge, what? well, as a matter of fact, Lou Ceasare, the owner, is a perfect example of the practical manifestation of philosophical theory… knuckles…gnosis, tomato…toemahtoe.. hold on, there’s someone at the door.”
“Still there? Room service with my coffee… no, three-thirty in the morning isn’t early for break…. oh, it’s three in the morning there… sorry… hey, what are you wearing…. no, besides the blanket and paper-thin patience… I remember the third conversation you and I had… well, yeah, while that’s a bit on the savant-side, I prefer, ‘romantic proclivities’… you were telling me what you had on…. hold on, a call on my room phone.”
“… Anya Claireaux is one scary woman… no, she’s not here, that was her on the phone… yeah, the landline, …well, because I made a point of buying traveler’s checks when I landed at Heathrow… it’ll show on my expense account… under ‘She can’t follow you when you stay off the grid’… apparently that’s not quite true…. somehow she knew my room number here, at the St. Pancras… well, yeah, kinda expensive… but it’s in walking distance to where our ‘Lady of Chicago’ indicated I should focus my search… what? no, she wasn’t upset; I doubt anyone can claim to have witnessed Anya Claireaux being upset… well, ’cause they would have to live to relate their experience… no, being Anya, she just said, “Love the room, when you take the ‘Jack-the-Ripper Walking Tour’ pay attention to area around Thrawl and Dorset Streets… and say hi to Leanne”… yeah, she is impressive… no, I won’t set up a meeting… hell, you want to see her so bad, just say it out-loud, don’t say I didn’t warn you… yeah, I gotta go need to get in the shower… I guess I am at your service… later.”
[Eibigen Abby
Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany]The caverns beneath the Eibigen Abby were impossible to detect, treacherous to infiltrate and due to the composition of the stone, impervious to eaves-dropping, in other words, perfectly suited to serve as headquarters for the Order of Lilith.
From the beginning, the character of the Order reflected the nature of its mission: to guide the majority of mankind, not so much in a specific direction, as to help it, (overtly or otherwise), avoid the cliff-edge that seem to be it’s preferred environment; at least as perceived by those who controlled the masses.
“You believe you can shape their actions,” the voice was light in tone yet conveyed an authority as old and difficult to define as the growing light that announces the end of night, “while we are not concerned about the detective, the woman in Chicago is someone of exceptional interest.
About clarkscottroger
Very interesting conversation that Ian is having with Leanne; loved the line: hey, what are you wearing…. no, besides the blanket and paper-thin patience.
Always love listening to Van Morrison
Thank you
thanks (I was late to come to like his music, but totally enjoy it)
I like your description of those treacherous to infiltrate caverns as perfect for the Order of Lilith headquarters. I also like the thought of those cliff edges that I probably prefer as much as the next guy.
Thanks Frank
… well, you have gotten into writing an online serial story… which, in my book is comparable to any other live performance… which is the definition of the ‘the cliff edge’ at least for me…
Your obsession with Bogart intrigues me as does this six. Good stuff as always.
..started as good image for a detective in a serial ‘pulp’ fiction.. and, funny, I don’t think Ian (Devereaux) is at all like Bogie… but you know what they say about ‘habit’.
Exceptional. Well played!
Oh, mercy! Some nights, after work, following all of this is straining on the last working brain cell, but that’s good for me.
…I suspect I might have set up the premise (somehow) before using my allotted Six sentences… I’ve used this, ‘listening to one half of a phone conversation’ before and have always enjoyed it. Probably why I love the early Bob Newhart standup bits where he’d set it up “…and I think it’d sound something like this…”
lol
” the woman in Chicago is someone of exceptional interest.” Is she your Irene Adler?
no… worse!
Anya Claireaux is a villainess from my first serial, ‘Blog Dominion’. An attractive, amoral, powerful woman who hears a very different drummer…. sort of a Hannibal Lecter only hot.
lol
She is awful fun to write for
I do love the crossover stuff with the Whitechapel Interlude serial. Nice touch.
Great bit with the “….ongoing debate about ontology down at the Bottom of the Sea Strip Club and Lounge…”
Two characters I am partial towards are Lou and Anya. Go figure, lol but yeah. You can’t not love Lou and Anya? Well, Anya is a totally impressive, deadly, yet almost seems to have a heart, very mysterious woman. Guess we’ll see what kind of trouble she gets Ian into, lol
should be interesting… agree about Lou and Anya
Paper thin patience–yep that’s a gem, too :)
Thanks, Z
You’re welcome, Sir.
Fascinating; the many different ways that you tell your stories. 😊
it does tend to keep things interesting/fun
as I mentioned to Mimi… channeling my inner Bob Newhart with the phone thing… fun as it is a great manifestation of my overall seat of the pants approach to the story… I get to have the fun of unfolding plot too! lol
Such a good serial… and I love Bogart, even if he only a habit. But no, only? That would be impossible.
I agree. It has been fun, really enjoying the characters
The one sided phone conversation revealed much. But maybe not as much as the last line in this Six. ‘while we are not concerned about the detective, the woman in Chicago is someone of exceptional interest.’ Provacative.
Those of us at a certain age came into contact with Bob Newhart in his standup comedy stage… its a lot of fun to write that kind of infer the punchline thing…
If the Order finds Anya impressive, everyone best find a comfortable place to sit.
One heck of a phone listen-in, good sir. It makes an interesting writing task experimenting with phone dialogue.
“…paper-thin patience.” – top line.
Nice sidestep into the world of the Order at the end!
Its way fun. (I totally want to attributize Bob Newhart for totally being the master of this form… not only does he carry on a intelligible ‘conversation’ but somehow implies the setup and/or punchlines)
here:
Well there is a whole lot happening here, can’t pretend to have a clue as to what’s happening.
And I really admire your definition of a sentence!
I have it on good Authority (the CMOS 19th edition (the infamous, ‘Unabashed Edition’) that a sentence requires only three things: a beginning, an end and something interesting keeping the two apart)
lol
(don’t even get me started on semi-colonicular prose*)
*not a ‘real’ word